T-Mobile has just announced that John Legere has been named Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile USA, effective September 22. Legere is a 32-year veteran of the US and global telecommunications industry succeeding Jim Alling, who was serving as interim CEO after the departure of Philip Humm.

“John is a talented and proven executive who brings a successful track record of leading and operating consumer- and business-focused telecommunications and technology companies,” said René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “As T-Mobile moves forward with its strategic initiatives to improve its market position, including expanding its network coverage and initiating LTE service, John has obviously the right skillset to lead the business into the future. John’s experience in the telecommunication and technology industries at Global Crossing and Dell will enhance T-Mobile’s ability to deliver superior mobile experiences for our customers as the Company continues to strengthen its business. I am delighted to welcome John to T-Mobile and look forward to working with him to make T-Mobile a stronger competitor.”

“I am thrilled to join T-Mobile and lead the Company at such a pivotal time,” said Mr. Legere. “T-Mobile is taking a number of significant steps to revitalize the business and I look forward to leading our team and partners to accelerate these efforts to become a force in our industry.”

You can read the full press release at the T-Mobile link below, or the internal statement going around to employees right now.

I’m delighted to announce John Legere as the new CEO of T-Mobile USA. With more than 30years in telecom, John is a thoughtful and innovative leader in the industry, and brings tremendous experience and passion to T-Mobile.

Our search for a new CEO was a strategic undertaking, one that valued long-term commitment and a refreshed, customer-focused direction. We sought an innovator—an aggressive, out-of-the-box thinker who will carry T-Mobile to a future of success and industry leadership. In getting to know John even better over the past few months, I’ve come to respect his vision for T-Mobile and commitment to changing the way wireless is done.

John is a fierce competitor in both his personal and professional lives, and will uphold our history of bold moves. With his perseverance and unwavering commitment to improvement, he will no doubt lead T-Mobile in bold new directions that will further establish the Company as the best value in wireless.

It’s a pivotal time for T-Mobile as we conclude our 10th anniversary celebrations and continue our journey as the industry innovator. To reach our 20th anniversary, we must continue to position ourselves as the challenger brand—the “uncarrier.” With the Challenger Strategy as the road to success, John will partner with all of you to execute our five strategic levers: Amazing 4G Services, Value Leader, Trusted Brand, Multi-Segment Player, and Challenger Business Model.

The progress you all have already made on the Challenger Strategy is significant, and John will serve as a further catalyst to see us through to the competitive finish and ensure we achieve our mission—to make amazing 4G services affordable.

This moment in our history would not be possible without Jim Alling’s successful stewardship of the business for these past few months. While Jim served in an interim capacity, his permanency as a respected leader and believer in an employee-first culture is a vision that is shared by John. The potential for T-Mobile is limitless with Jim and all of our Executive Committee members working closely with John to create a new story for our business—one that promises to motivate and inspire you to continue doing the critical work that has helped us achieve all of our success to date.

We’re investing in all the right places, improving service across the board, and challenging competitors to keep up. I’m thrilled to bring John to Seattle and with him, his hunger to make T-Mobile the wireless leader.

About David Beren

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

Good Luck sir! I hope you can save this sinking ship and steer it in the right direction!

TMOTECH

Can we please stop talking about opening more stores and get back to building more Cell sites!!! I am sick of them focusing on sales and not the network. If you Build it they will come!!!

Me

I agree. It’s pretty sad that I carry a Sprint phone w/ me when I travel because I find there’s a lot more 3G on Sprint than T-Mo. Being on EDGE is painful and my apps time out — not ideal when I’m trying to use GPS to get somewhere! On the plus side, where T-Mo works, it works very well. Back home I get 5-15Mb down on my S II which is great.

fixxmyhead

gps doesnt rely on data. it will still work. i had an old g@y samsung intercept and the gps still worked. it was spot on everytime

kalel33

If you don’t have your maps precached onto the phone then yes, you do need data for GPS.

fixxmyhead

No bro I had my intercept disconnected with no data and the GPS worked fine. No pre caching

kalel33

So tell me this, how did the Google map/navigation show the maps when it couldn’t stream them to the phone? I can’t use Google maps or Navigation when there is no data connection. It’s not possible, until the last update where you can now pre-load an area on your phone for download.

fixxmyhead

idk maybe i just had some map cached in the phone but i know it was working for me

Indeed. T-Mobile is fast when you’re in 4G (finally got the backhaul in my area where I can pull 8+Mbps); however, it’s pathetic that you go 10 miles out of the city and it drops to GPRS. If it wasn’t for that, I would be happy to come back to T-Mobile with a WP8 device.

TMOTECH

Well I can tell you that if you have 2G coverage now it will be expanded to 3G/4G during the modernization process.
The 3G holes will be filled. What I am referring to is building new sites and expanding the footprint to fill in coverage gaps.

rfgenerator

TMOTECH, is it your understanding that sites that are currently GPRS will be upgraded to 3G/4G, or is the upgrade limited to sites that are currently EDGE? Here in Central Mass we still have many towns that are running GPRS on sites in the center of town (i.e. Southbridge, MA). I’ve also noticed in many areas that are 3G/4G the backhaul isn’t there (download speeds of 500kbps or lower).

TMOTECH

It is my understanding that Phase one of modernization will upgrade 37,000 cell sites. A lot of those are sites that do not have 3G yet. I have no idea what the timeline is. I do know that big markets will be done first. Smaller markets like yours will come later… Eventually all sites will have 3G and LTE. But that will probably take a couple of years.

od312

Can’t wait! Was thinking about leaving, but tmobile has been good to me. I’ll be loyal and stay :)

tmoinside

If a site is not 3G now, modernization will not add 3/4g to the site, that site will not even be upgraded

od312

Says who?

sb

If the site has 3g already it will possibly get modernized. If it has fiber to the site it definately will be

Get_at_Me

I dont understand your statement. PCS spectrum (2G) is being refarmed for HSPA+ use…Current AWS spectrum (3G/HSPA+) will be converted to LTE next year. If a site isn’t HSPA/HSPA+ (3G/4G) now, it has to be 2G or 1G. Your statement is basically saying that 2G sites wont be updated which doesn’t make sense to me. Can you explain?

Tbyrne

Vic, I don’t get it? You state: (finally……I can pull 8+Mbps), then you state: (If it wasn’t
for that, I would be happy to come back to T-Mobile.) Are you on T-Mobile or leave for another network? If you’re on another network, why do you bother coming in here to post? Are you not happy with where you’re at? If you’re with T-Mobile aren’t you happy you pay less each month than you would with the other big 3? Just curious.

Paul

Agreed, better service and the masses will come.

Deceptivesmiles

I have to agree with you on this. When I drive home on the PA Turnpike, I’m practically a ghost bc my service is terrible. I bounce between 2G and GPRS. Drop more calls than Hot Hands Hannen drops balls.smh

David C

I agree. Better signal quality and people would switch because of tmobile’s good pricing, and wifi calling!!

Hmmm Growing the B2B sales force by more than 1k new people??? That means laying off 1k people in B2B in about 18 months. LOL

ccnet005

Mr. Legere,
It would greatly help tmobile if you could get the Galaxy Note II out before the other carriers in all markets, no more of that selected market release jive.Could you better inform/train your store employees on how the phones they sell work?Also keep them better informed on phones that are coming to tmobile.I know that even by the end of next week very few of them will know about the Galaxy Note II, very few of them even know about the first Galaxy note.
Thank you

Aurizen

Hopefully this guy does better than the guy before Jim, and hope this guy brings great changes to tmobile and possibility of an iPhone sold on tmobile with his help.

gwhyte01

Can we get some more towers mr. ceo……probably some more wall penetration.

haha

Steve Buscemi anyone?

PB

Now that right there is funny!

Clown,Joker,etc.etc!!!

This is the new captain of the sinking ship that will end up sinking it to the bottom like that ship back in january the costa concordia off the coast of Italy where the captain fled the scene on everybody! Titantic style!! The guy looks like a clown!!! New name of the company: Clown Mobile— What a joker…Smh

Adam

@
Clown,Joker,etc.etc!!!
Costa Concordia did not sink, it was grounded when it got to close to an Italian Island and hit a rocky sand bar…. the captain would had been safe inside of the ship because only lower decks had submerged as the ship tilted against the tide. Yes the capt on
Costa Concordia could had saved life’s and prevented a chaotic event, but instead he only saved himself allowing everyone else to fend for themselves causing passengers to lose their lives.
You know nothing about T Mobile and the core “Values”, that’s hash and very negative to compare T MOBILE USA to a capt that abandoned this ship at a moment of SOS. The Challenger strategy that has made a better outcome for the company allowing T Mobile to invest 4 Billion into the Network, rolling out LTE and complete compatibility of Apple iPhone and other non T Mobile data handsets. You judge for no real reason against T-Mobile’s new CEO. You judge by looks and have no facts. that’s swallow and its just shameful. the only one that looks with an assz clown is you! YOU’RE THE JOKE fool.

Tbyrne

He’s a joker, a fool, a clown and a troll all rolled up in one. Probably Randall or Dan’s kid. Dropped out of college and trying to impress the old man. Sheesh, pathetic!

real

your right the proof is in the pudding T-mobile will be going out of business and the towers that are being “refarmed” will sold to highest bitter. They basicaly propping t-mobile up with a stick tryna make it battle cause DT couldnt do what they did over uk here in the U.S which was MERGE via Everything Everywhere come on folks wake up.

Dakota

My 4g in At struggles to sometimes hit 3mbps..I’m at family’s in Jacksonville & 25% of time I don’t even have 1 bar & can’t even call or text

if you read to the very end, the company was on final stages of bankruptcy in 2003 at the hands of the founding and ex AT&T CEO’s that failed to execute. Bankruptcy was lifted and turned around, with the involvement of
John Legere CEO stabilizing Global Crossing internal structure to turn a profit again from 2004 to current. T Mobile welcomes him on board!!! change will come for employees and

HATER

Ladies & Gentleman, Meet The New “FALL GUY!” or “FAIL GUY!!” This guy looks like a complete POSER!!! Reading from the teleprompter…smh

How about stop the bullshit promotions too.
Unlimited data that is not unlimited and
No money down phone promotions that require you to
put money down and get it back, months later in the form of a
visa card.

What’s it gonna be John?

T-Mo2013

Holy Sh*t this guy is an American “Finally!! Bringing America back to work

JBrowne1012

Yes but American CEOs tend to be greedy, I hope this guy is not.

Josh Robert Nay

Correction: ALL CEOs tend to be greedy.

ThoughtSausage

what about the thousands of other jobs that are already in south america and the philippines? thats a dumb statement.

OUTSOURCE THIS!

This guy will eventually be OUTSOURCED to MarketSource too right after the Holidays!!!

taron19119

So does this mean that they will not try to sale T-Mobile or is this a smoke screen let’s see if he can get the iphone

TenaciousCellular

My company is opening a second T-Mobile premium retail location this fall. The response is outstanding and we are very excited for the future with T-Mobile. Who’s with me?!

Joker!

This guy looks like he graduated from Clown College! What a clown!!

Intense!

The picture above of this new guy looks like he can’t wait to start whacking employees if they don’t hit there quotas in Q4!!!

Rob

Since I’m apperently blocked on T-Mobiles youtube page..

Please lets expand coverage and not just store locations, its what I hear everywhere that holds people back from moving to T-Mobile. The lack of at least 3G in rural areas. If you’re still launching LTE Advanced I would recommend boasting it over the competition.

Richard Yarrell

Better days are ahead on Tmobile no doubt. I am glad to be here. I see a great future ahead..

squiddy20

You said the exact same thing of Sprint when you were with them a year ago before you jumped to Verizon. Glad to see you’re just as delusional as ever. -_-

Richard Yarrell

Sprints#1 troll.. Always finds time for the tmonews Site. I know times are pretty hard on that3g network your on with Sprint. And sense you live in a place that will never get Lte your in a ruff spot. Best of luck to you your a sad soul.

squiddy20

“And sense you live in a place that will never get Lte your in a ruff spot.” 1. It’s spelled “since” and “rough”. For the moron who goes around talking about “uneducated simpleton’s”, you sure do talk like one. 2. You don’t know where I live (not even rough geographical location such as west/east coast), let alone my name. How you know for certain that I won’t ever get LTE is nothing more than a baseless, and quite blind, insult. Having fun?
“Always finds time for the tmonews Site” As I’ve said previously you ignorant dumbass, I look at your profile page to see all the comments you’ve ever made. What, you think I’m stupid enough to spend hours searching through every website that uses Disqus for your comments? Ha. Only fools who actually use that approach would say something that dumb. Try thinking harder next time.

I think that he is hitting on an important point here, though I wonder if it’s too late. The B2B strategy could be the most effective thing to get T-Mobile phones in consumer’s hands. The thing is that this has to be a positive experience for the employees that carry the phones. When I think back around 10 years ago when some companies were first creating plans to issue employees company-provided cell phones, two companies hit this big: Verizon Wireless and Nextel. Verizon Wireless and Nextel got devices that use their network into many people’s hands this way.

The difference came in the experience the employees had with those devices. Employees carrying VZW devices often thought “I should get one of these for my family members” while employees carrying Nextel devices thought that those devices were for work only. This helped lead to the state of these companies today. VZW has over 100 million customers (even with the highest monthly costs in the industry) while Nextel lagged and eventually was acquired by Sprint.

The environment is different now, and that is the challenge for T-Mobile; most people already have personal cell phones. When my company first issued cell phones 10-11 years ago, many employees did not have their own personal phones at the time. The devices were VZW and Nextel devices. The company had a generous personal-use policy for cell phones, to the point where some of the employees who did have personal cell phones dropped theirs and used the company-provided one only. When it came time for those employees to get their own cell phones again and get phones for their families, guess which provider was at the top of their list…Verizon Wireless.

Loyal

vzw did not get a 100 million customer on their own, not even a half of that number. They rolled merger after merger into their company, remember Alltel wireless or the other companies. None of what you said is even fact.

21stNow

It really doesn’t matter how Verizon Wireless got to 100 million customers. They are there. If you look back through the history of the national postpaid carriers in the US, there is a merger or acquisition in the history of all four of them.

Just because VZW bought Alltel didn’t mean that the customers had to stay with VZW. They could have left in the first 30 days, or could leave as their contracts expire.

To say that none of what I said is fact is a stretch. One, because much of my post was anecdotal. Two, I made a statement that most people already have personal cell phones. Since I was clearly addressing the US market, do you care to dispute that?

Mark

There’s one other piece that Verizon and AT&T have that Sprint and TMo don’t: their remaining landline services which still provide a steady income (particularly since they make up a good chunk of the PSTN that mobile calls still use to get from your phone to someone else’s).

T-Mobile didn’t rush out LTE like the others. Deploying LTE advanced is their true advantage so my only advice is to stay focused on the refarm and LTE advanced so they both can be rolled out at a steady pace. Churn will happen this quarter and next so it’s important not to allow this as a distraction. Things will be okay once the network is revamped, and it’s my belief that T-Mobile will come back with a force and make the others wish at&t bought them out!

the firm is “no Enron”

Legere: “These transactions were entirely lawful”

Representative Stephanie
Tubbs Jones took Mr Legere to task for accepting a $3.5m signing bonus
in addition to a $1.1m a year salary even as bankruptcy loomed for
Global Crossing.

the firm is “no Enron”

Representative Stephanie
Tubbs Jones took Mr Legere to task for accepting a $3.5m signing bonus
in addition to a $1.1m a year salary even as bankruptcy loomed for
Global Crossing.

the firm is no Enron

Legere: “These transactions were entirely lawful”
Representative Stephanie
Tubbs Jones took Mr Legere to task for accepting a $3.5m signing bonus
in addition to a $1.1m a year salary even as bankruptcy loomed for
Global Crossing.

I want T-Mobile to not only compete but for once in their existence strive to be better than at least *some* of their competitors.

I want fast 4GLTE speeds not only at home but all over the USA when I go on vacation and on our road trips.

Wireless isn’t just about phones anymore. Soon our automobile’s and even everyday household electronics will all be connected and we need a nationwide fast reliable wireless services to get there. I know many of you feel me when I get irritated at my GPRS connection when I’m in freaking Los Angeles for crying out loud. The network was built on just getting by and I want T-Mobile to finish what they started.

With a global brand they should not only be doing better than Sprint they should be right up there under AT&T’s nose. But poor leadership, lack of investment and inability to strike a deal with the most popular wireless phone OEM (Apple) has continued to hurt their image.

Here’s to a much better and much more sucessful 2013! I will bring all 5 of my AT&T lines back next year if I see some REAL committment to improving their network and device portfolio.

Gouv

I think you are well aware that it’ll probably take until 2015 for that to happen with Tmo’s track record…. if ever!! They’ve tried many things before but none of them seemed to have worked. For their sake lets hope the “refarm” will be their saving grace. But realistically they don’t have the resources to dramatically increase their footprint and penetrating network reach. It’s just the way it is… Tmo has been treading water for years and they are fighting competition heavily on all sides. They are fending off the large guys and the cheap prepay carriers all at the same time. They are in a rough spot and lack resources. I’m sure if DT didn’t skim so much from these poor bastards they’d be fine but alas, they are always going to be stuck in mediocrity as long as DT is sucking their life blood.

Joe_PDA

Good luck on your new position John. I feel like T-Mobile is doing a decent job of building up their network. They just don’t focus on it because they are technically weak in spectrum ownership. That’s changing, thanks in part to AT&T failed takeover attempt.

Now how about addressing your customer base. I’m sure you would hear countless stories of customers promised one rate plan but then sneaked in to another plan. You will hear countless stories about plans changed ion customers, contracts extended and costs increased all against customers wishes. There needs to be better transparency in plans and services offered to customer. For example, I was thinking about leaving T-Mobile after being a customer for so many years. After speaking with the reps, they were able to work out details that would make me comfortable staying on. I said great, can I get a copy of what we just agreed to? They told me, “sorry we can’t do that, but don’t worry, its in our computer.” Can you imagine? They want you to agree to a two year commitment, but don’t want you to know what you are agreeing to. After I just read about 50 cases, ON T-MOBILE’S OWN WEBSITE FORUM, of customers upset because they were not given the rate plans they agreed to. Most had been loyal customers for 5-10 years but now want out.

So John, if you truly want to grow your company in this highly competitive industry, TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS.

Luigi

On behalf of numerous “senior” T-Mobile wireless subscribers, I would like to welcome John Legere as a new Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile USA. I have been with T-Mobile for almost 10 years. During the first few years of my time with T-Mobile, I had the privilege to enjoy a great and enthusiastic customer support, ranked #1 by JD Power for solid reasons, and great voice coverage wherever I went in the USA and overseas. Then, when the wireless world changed and data coverage began the new big thing, T-Mobile did not follow the evolution and let its infrastructures and human resources go into such a disrepair status that is causing hundred-thousands of subscribers to leave T-Mobile every quarter. As a long time subscriber, I have personally experienced this erosive process which translated into very poor voice e data coverage not just in my house (patched by a signal booster within my premises, kindly provided by T-Mobile, upon signing a 2-year extension on my Value Plan contract) but anywhere inside a building and/or a store. No comments on a virtually nonexistent customer service. On top of that, the choice of smartphone devices is very limited to say the least and subpar when compared with the offerings from all other carriers. I am not referring to the availability of iPhones here. I understand the financial commitment involved with the iPhone and I openly praise T-Mobile for focusing on higher priorities at this stage. The problem is with all other smartphones in general. It seems that T-Mobile never gets the top of the line smartphones, whether Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry: always the entry-level. This is the reason of my letter: requesting high-end smartphones. A great coverage and a great device make a wireless carrier very appealing to new and existing subscribers. Right now, T-Mobile does not have either. Please Mr. Legere, work on this. I hear that a new LTE/refarmed network is coming soon, and this is exciting news. Likewise, a new wave of Windows Phone devices is coming soon, please do not “adopt” just the entry-level models leaving the high-end devices to the other carriers. If you look at the demography of T-Mobile subscribers, you will find a large crowd of “frugal” people, subscribers who can afford iPhones (and the like devices) but who do not want to overpay just for the “hype”. Entice and keep these subscribers, Mr. Legere. Do not steer them away. Personally, I never received a “subsidized” phone from T-Mobile but I always brought my own phone. But now, unlocking a high-end device and using it on T-Mobile network is becoming harder and harder, almost impossible. Think of me (and countless like me) as of somebody who can afford to fly first class but chooses to fly coach instead and is willing to pay the additional fee to access the airline lounge at the airport.

Luigi

On behalf of numerous “senior” T-Mobile wireless subscribers, I would like to welcome John Legere as a new Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile USA. I have been with T-Mobile for almost 10 years. During the first few years of my time with T-Mobile, I had the privilege to enjoy a great and enthusiastic customer support, ranked #1 by JD Power for solid reasons, and great voice coverage wherever I went in the USA and overseas. Then, when the wireless world changed and data coverage began the new big thing, T-Mobile did not follow the evolution and let its infrastructures and human resources go into such a disrepair status that is causing hundred-thousands of subscribers to leave T-Mobile every quarter. As a long time subscriber, I have personally experienced this erosive process which translated into very poor voice e data coverage not just in my house (patched by a signal booster within my premises, kindly provided by T-Mobile, upon signing a 2-year extension on my Value Plan contract) but anywhere inside a building and/or a store. No comments on a virtually nonexistent customer service. On top of that, the choice of smartphone devices is very limited to say the least and subpar when compared with the offerings from all other carriers. I am not referring to the availability of iPhones here. I understand the financial commitment involved with the iPhone and I openly praise T-Mobile for focusing on higher priorities at this stage. The problem is with all other smartphones in general. It seems that T-Mobile never gets the top of the line smartphones, whether Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry: always the entry-level. This is the reason of my letter: requesting high-end smartphones. A great coverage and a great device make a wireless carrier very appealing to new and existing subscribers. Right now, T-Mobile does not have either. Please Mr. Legere, work on this. I hear that a new LTE/refarmed network is coming soon, and this is exciting news. Likewise, a new wave of Windows Phone devices is coming soon, please do not “adopt” just the entry-level models leaving the high-end devices to the other carriers. If you look at the demography of T-Mobile subscribers, you will find a large crowd of “frugal” people, subscribers who can afford iPhones (and the like devices) but who do not want to overpay just for the “hype”. Entice and keep these subscribers, Mr. Legere. Do not steer them away. Personally, I never received a “subsidized” phone from T-Mobile but I always brought my own phone. But now, unlocking a high-end device and using it on T-Mobile network is becoming harder and harder, almost impossible. Think of me (and countless like me) as of somebody who can afford to fly first class but chooses to fly coach instead and is willing to pay the additional fee to access the airline lounge at the airport. Thank you.

M42

Well, he sure gives me a lot of confidence in staying with T-Mobile. NOT! As others have pointed out, it’s the network, stupid. You advertise your 4G coverage, which is really fast if you can find it. I don’t have to go very far in any direction of the compass before I hit Edge and then it’s another two hours before I see 4G again. Build the network and like others have said. customers will come. Get off the LTE bandwagon and concentrate on building out HSPA+ in Edge areas. PC Magazine tests show T-Mobile’s 4G beats Verizon’s touted LTE in 90% of the country. LTE is only for iPhone fools. Customers are leaving not because you don’t have LTE, but because we can’t find 4G anywhere. If the coverage doesn’t improve then I’m off to AT&T, whose network I spend a lot of time roaming on anyway.

Gouv

Well, to me he’s saying the right things.. lets see if he’ll actually do a good job. He’s got a big challenge to overcome. T-Mobile can’t be an easy company to turn around after years of mismanagement.

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